Unilever has announced strong half year 2017 results, with sales growth of 3%.
The parent company of brands including Dove, Simple and TRESemmé, saw turnover increase 5.5% to total €27.7bn.
CEO Paul Polman credited the success of the company’s Connected 4 Growth (C4G) strategy, which began in 2016.
“Our first-half results show continued growth well ahead of our markets and a substantial step-up in profitability despite the persisting volatile global trading environment,” he said. “The transformation of Unilever into a more resilient, more competitive and more profitable business is accelerating.
“C4G is making our business even more agile, less complex and increasingly responsive to fast-changing consumer trends. The resulting increase in innovation speed and effectiveness will allow us to grow ahead of market. We see this as a proven way of delivering long-term shareholder value.”
Personal care performance
Unilever has been on an acquisition spree in the personal care sector over the past few years, notably snapping up Dermalogica, REN, Dollar Shave Club, Living Proof and, last month, Hourglass – its first colour cosmetics buy.
The company reported that its personal care business put in a good performance although challenging market conditions in markets such as India, Brazil and Indonesia “weighed on the overall growth rate”.
Oral care was singled out as a healthy category, with premium innovations from Unilever’s Signal brand supporting growth.
Meanwhile, deodorants was another growth-driver for the Anglo-Dutch company with newly-formulated ‘skin-friendly’ Dove antiperspirants rolling out in 65 countries. Meanwhile Baby Dove, which launched earlier this year, is now present in 19 markets.
Dermalogica, acquired by Unilever in June 2015, was said to have performed well, while recent acquisitions Dollar Shave Club and Living Proof continued to grow strongly, although will contribute to underlying sales growth from next quarter.
